Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Fabricio Werdum
The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix. The Fight The first round began. They circled. Nogueira rocked Werdum with a straight right and dropped him. Theys crambled, Werdum pulled guard. Nogueira stood and let Werdum up. Nogueira pressed forward and they clinched. Werdum kneed the body and ythey broke. Nogueira landed a body shot. Werdum landed a good right hand and a leg kick. Nogueira landed a straight left. Werdum's nose ws bleeding. Werdum slipped a jab. Werdum landed one himself and a left hook. Nogueira landed a pair of stiff jabs or straight lefts one. Werdum landed a jab and another. Nogueira landed a right hand. Werdum replied with a left. Nogueira landed a jab. They circled. Werdum landed a teep. He landed a leg kick. Werdum landed an inside leg kick. Nogueira landed a right hand and a left hook. Nogueira missed a body shot and ate an uppercut and a body shot. Nogueira got a trip to guard. Werdum locked up the gaurd tight. The referee moved them to the center. Nogueira landed a hammerfist. He landed a hammerfist. Another. Nogueira had the thumb in the throat. Werdum kept trying to control the arms. Nogueira landed a left hand. Five minutes left. Nogueira stood. He stood over Werdum, kicked the leg. The referee stood Werdum up. Nogueira landed a good left hand. He landed a right hand. Werdum landed a jab. Werdum was constantly backing up. Nogueira landed a jab. Nogueira landed a left hook. Werdum landed a good jab himself. Werdum landed a jab. Nogueira landed a stiff jab. Three minutes as Nogueira landed a left hook there. Werdum was dropped by another right hand. Nogueira stood over him. He was holding the legs there. The referee stood Werdum up. Two thirty. Nogueira landed a nice jab and another. Werdum landed a jab. Nogueira missed a jab. Werdum landed a pair of weak teeps. He missed a left hook. Werdum landed a leg kick. They clinched and they broke as Werdum kneed the body. Nogueira landed a jab. Nogueira landed a leg kick. Nogueira landed a good left hook to the body and hurt Werdum. Werdum dropped down on his back. One minute. The referee stood Werdum back up. Nogueira landed a big left hook and rocked Werdum. Werdum landed a pair of leg kicks and ate another left hook. Nogueira landed a crisp jab. Nogueira landed another pair of big left hooks to the liver. He landed a big one to the face. Ten. The first round ended. The second round began and they touched gloves. They circled. Werdum landed a jab slightly. He landed another one a bit more stiffly. Nogueira parried another. They circled some more. Werdum worked for a single, Nogueira was defending. Nogueira dropped for a guillotine, Werdum avoided and they scrambled and Werdum backed off and Nogueira stood as well. Werdum landed a jab. Nogueira was trying to corner Werdum methodically. Werdum worked for another single. Nogueira was defending. Nogueira came on down to half-guard. Werdum got the butterflies in, actually only one. Nogueira passed back to half-guard avoiding a kimura lightning-fast. Werdum got the guard back. Nogueira landed a hammerfist and another. He landed a body shot. Werdum landed a pair from his back. Nogueira landed a body shot and a hammerfist himself. It looked like Nogueira landed an elbow there. Nogueira stood over Werdum. The referee stood him up. Nogueira was cut under the left eye. Oh they were checking it. Apparently it was the jab that opened Nogueira's eye up. They continued. One minute left. Werdum struck wildly and ate a left hook. Werdum tried a telegraphed single and got it. Werdum stood. He landed a soccer kick and came down to half-guard, an open half-guard. Werdum worked for a guillotine from the top. Nogueira defended it. Nogueira swept on top to guard beautifully. The second round ended. The third round began and they touched gloves. Werdum landed a jab. They circled. They clinched. Not much going on and the referee broke them up. Nogueira landed an inside leg kick. He stuffed a single. Werdum spun out and avoided and they broke. Werdum worked for another single and he got it to guard, adding in a trip as well. He landed four hammerfists and another four and another three and another three, pretty quick ground and pound, not hard but landing. He landed another pair. He stood. He came back down and they scrambled and stood and broke. Werdum worked for another single and got it to half-guard defending a guillotine. It didn't look tight, but it was locked in. The arm was trapped, an arm-in guillotine. Werdum popped out. He kneed the face. Werdum worked towards a kimura but he couldn't get it. The fight was restarted in the center. Werdum's mouth was wide open. Werdum landed a pair of short hammerfists. Nogueira got a beautiful sweep to guard. He landed a body shot. Two minutes. Nogueira stood and kicked the leg twice. The referee stood Werdum up. Werdum landed a right hand slightly. Werdum worked for another single, nope he got it to half-guard. One minute. Werdum was working for an arm triangle, but they were in the corner and there was little room. He was really working for it as hard as he could though, it wasn't locked. Werdum took the back, Nogueira escaped out the back door to guard with a left hand and a right. He landed a big hammerfist. Werdum rolled for a kneebar and they scrambled and Nogueira nearly went through the ropes but the third round ended. Nogueira was the winner via unanimous decision. He raised Werdum's hand.